You mean the nylon military grade parachute cord used for risers in parachutes vs the metal carabiner that will be metal against the body of your camera and has had issues with coming undone?
JohnJ80 wrote:
You mean the nylon military grade parachute cord used for risers in parachutes vs the metal carabiner that will be metal against the body of your camera and has had issues with coming undone?
J.
I'd never parachute with only one cord, or trust a $5K camera to dangle from it.
I've been climbing with D rings tho for years and trust them quite a bit more.
The potential failure of a metal ring is far lower then the cord.
I've had a couple on two cameras for a few years now and never had one even come loose accidentally. Because of all the stories of unexpected catastrophe I check my connector regularly, but have never needed to retighten when in use. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe I'm overly diligent about checking it or maybe I use it in such a way that it doesn't come loose.
Sorry to here even one's bad experience. I guess we use what works, and what works is different for each of us.
OK, here is my solution for attaching a sling strap to my camera. DIY
I'm using a small arca style clamp from RRS, fixed a 3/8" stainless steel bolt to the clamp, loctited it, drilled a hole in the head of the bolt and attached a strong stainless split ring from dive supply shop. For my strap I'm using on the upper part an OP/tech shoulder part, for the lower part a modified TT strap with a heavy swivel. Thats it, no costs so far as all this stuff was lying around.
The best part, if you want to use a tripod, just remove the clamp in a second. Tested for strengths up to 200lbs.
schristie11 wrote:
There are also tales of shute cords that failed, I hate to say that but it is true, anything can fail.
True. But I also have the Luma Loops strap too. It's much better, better constructed and has never failed. Go watch their videos on load testing the clip and the cord.
OTOH, BR has failed multiple times for me and I'm not the only one reporting failures. One should have a reasonable expectation of something as simple as a camera strap not failing. One should not need to have a backup protection on an expensive strap like this.
That said, sling straps have limited application anyhow (IMO).
polarbare wrote:
I'll be happy to pay $20 for an unwanted BR strap in good condition.
I paid $12 for mine. Brand new. Same as the OP is (was) using. It's a POS imo! The Luma Loop strap looks MUCH better but I've never used one. It looks like a more soundly minded solution.
The BR uses a tiny metal pin and I don't trust them having had those things break or pull through on many occasions in my life (though not on camera straps/slings) - it's just a weak design.
I quickly changed to the Lowepro "Transporter" which I also paid $12 for brand new. Either the "Transporter", "Voyager", or the "Speedster" are about right - for me. Slings, not so much!
I wouldn't mind trying a holster type tho. The problem with both (for me) is that most or all of them eat the tripod socket. Well, I often carry a pod on a shoulder strap as well and I don't wanna spend all my time screwing and unscrewing equipment.
PS: I think $15 is about my limit for straps! I don't think I could ever fork over $60 for a 50¢ length of woven nylon, two 5¢ plastic clips, and a 20¢ rubber pad - but that's just me.
Bifurcator wrote:
The BR uses a tiny metal pin and I don't trust them having had those things break or pull through on many occasions in my life (though not on camera straps/slings) - it's just a weak design.
PS: I think $15 is about my limit for straps! I don't think I could ever fork over $60 for a 50¢ length of woven nylon, two 5¢ plastic clips, and a 20¢ rubber pad - but that's just me.
Where in this photo is the tiny metal pin you dont trust?
Am I missing something?
I don't trust the carabiner hook. It apparently opened on me twice resulting in a camera on the ground from waist height upon standing. To head off the next question - no, I don't intend to figure it out. Shouldn't have happened and the strap is history.
JohnJ80 wrote:
I don't trust the carabiner hook. It apparently opened on me twice resulting in a camera on the ground from waist height upon standing. To head off the next question - no, I don't intend to figure it out.
J.
The carabiner hook has a lock on it - you never used it, if it opened on you.
That's a lesson learned in operator knowledge, not a flaw from the mfg for certain.
Some people crack me up, I wonder if you also expect your automobile to apply the brakes for you at a stop sign?
Wow, the Cotton Carrier looks pretty badass. I'd consider that for a two camera setup for carious high traffic functions. For example, I shoot concerts and high volume venues (aka, lots of people). So something like a sling (BR RS-7) doesn't work for me. Having something sitting at my hip without much support is a big no (too many opportunities for people to bang into it.
So something like the Cotton Carrier is appealing because it keeps my 1D against my chest, with my 5D at my front hip, but secured. Seems like the best option at this point. If I shot weddings, and other venues where there was not a lot of people in close quarters, or other photogs right next to me, I'd consider a double strap by OpTech or BR.
It came undone. I am certain I locked it. I'm well acquainted with carabiners and such hooks (I do SAR). But, like I said, I'm not going to delve further into it because I'm done with it. My camera dumped twice from waist height when going from sitting to standing. That should not happen with a camera strap whose whole purpose it to reliably hold your camera attached to your body.
Supposing you are right, for the sake of argument, and it is totally operator error on my part then that speaks ill again of the design. Straps should not need extensive operator training or cross checking to make sure it works for heaven's sake!
Based on experience with many different straps - BR, Lumaloops, optech, upstrap, and wapiti - the *only* one that has had a problem with releasing and camera safety is the Black Rapid strap. It's not brain surgery and all the other manufacturers managed to make a product that does not have issues like this. I am not willing to be debugging an unfinished design at my expense when there are much better alternatives available (and, I might add, at lower cost).
Well, that's not exactly a true statement - if you search, you will find every mfg has had people post about a strap failure at one point or another in the last few years (recently history).
You can say that none have failed for you though, and I believe you, but the opposite is true for many BR owners like me, who have never had a failure.
I've had other straps fail though, so should I post that they are all inferior to my solid BR?
Interesting...I've yet to have a single OEM strap or OpTech Pro Loop strap fail. And, yes, I do actually use my gear and shoot...a lot...in quite a few diverse situations.
I still find it somewhat perplexing that so many people have so many variations to rigging their BR straps. I've yet to "rig" an OEM or Pro Loop strap.
I've personally had OEM Canon and Nikon and other straps including OpTech fail in different ways during the last 30 years of being in the field with cameras.
I just accept it as part of reality that nothing is perfect and to always stay aware of the camera.
However, my BR has not failed yet, and has almost made me complacent about where my camera is.. almost.
Like I said, do some searching around, you will find reports of everything on earth that is MAN made fails - at some point - some where - for some one.
Scott Sewell wrote:
Interesting...I've yet to have a single OEM strap or OpTech Pro Loop strap fail. And, yes, I do actually use my gear and shoot...a lot...in quite a few diverse situations.
I still find it somewhat perplexing that so many people have so many variations to rigging their BR straps. I've yet to "rig" an OEM or Pro Loop strap.
I couldn't have said it better. And I never understood why most straps cost about $20 and the R straps about $60.
